Housing and Homelessness

Housing issues affect everyone in Connecticut, from those who are searching for a safe place to live, to those who may find it increasingly difficult to afford a place they already call home.

With generous support from the Melville Charitable Trust, WNPR and Susan Campbell are covering Connecticut's housing and homelessness issues in a series that examines how residents are handling the challenges they face. We look at the trends that matter most right now, and tell stories that help bring the issues to light.

The owner of an apartment complex in the North End of Hartford has twice been called into court to answer for housing violations, but the New York-based landlord has dodged both appearances. The latest was Tuesday.

One year after tornadoes ripped through Connecticut, many residents are still struggling with post-storm cleanup. In response, federal lawmakers announced Monday that they’re reintroducing what they call the DEBRIS Act (Diversifying Emergency Benchmarks for the Recovery of Individuals after Storms).

The owner of Barbour Gardens, a subsidized housing complex in the North End of Hartford, was expected to appear in court Tuesday to face criminal housing charges, but the New York-based landlord was a no-show.

A shortage of affordable housing and an increase in low-wage jobs are to blame for a crisis in Connecticut cities. That’s according to a report from Quinnipiac University and the Urban League of Southern Connecticut.

It is estimated that 12 million Americans live inside one of our nations roughly 45,000 mobile home communities. Despite these numbers, few people outside these parks truly know what life is like for their residents.

Peeling paint, leaking showers, mice and mold—these are just some of the problems that residents of a Hartford apartment complex say they have been dealing with for years. But now, people living at the Barbour Gardens apartment complex claimed a victory in their fight with management after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced they would help residents relocate to safe housing.

Their parents may have spent their golden years in vast 55 and older retirement communities, or remote cookie-cutter housing developments in the suburbs. But more and more, baby boomers are deciding that's definitely not for them.

They want to live in walkable, vibrant neighborhoods where there's a mix of young and old, lots of dining options, and plenty of culture.

Shuttered national parks, TSA workers calling in sick, hundreds of thousands of paychecks missed. Americans around the country are feeling the impact of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. But it’s not just federal employees who are struggling.

This hour, we find out how the shutdown is affecting some of the country’s most vulnerable residents.

The partial shutdown of the federal government is causing some financial problems for furloughed workers who can't refinance their mortgages or buy homes because lenders can't verify their income. But unpaid federal employees aren't the only ones running into problems.

Libby Anderson, for example, got her final divorce decree on Tuesday. She'd hoped that would mean her ex-husband would finally move out of their Des Moines, Iowa, home, where they've been living separate lives under one roof for eight months.

On a January night in 2018, there were more than 3,000 people experiencing homelessness across the state of Connecticut.

This hour we sit down with Dr. Richard Cho, the new CEO of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness. Connecticut has made major strides in reducing homelessness, but how do we address areas where residents are still falling through the cracks?

A new federal report says Connecticut experienced one of the largest year-to-year percentage increases in homelessness. But state officials and advocates say Hurricane Maria had a major impact on those numbers.

When CVS agreed to acquire Aetna, they halted a plan to move the Hartford-based company’s headquarters to New York City. Connecticut has been breathing a sigh of relief that one of the capital’s largest employers isn’t ditching the state.

Since last Thursday, the House of Mercy has been busier than usual. The part shelter/part church/part donations center is among the places people affected by the Merrimack Valley gas explosions can go for help.

Their building, in an industrial corner of Lawrence, is a cramped space nearly floor-to-ceiling with diapers, bottled water and canned food.

Mabel Valenzuela, who works at House of Mercy, walks through a tight hallway, surveying the inventory.

A 2-year-old girl living in a rental home in New Haven, Connecticut, tested positive for lead in her blood. The levels were nine times what the federal government says will cause irreversible development problems.

Bob Adelman / Free the Beaches: The Story of Ned Coll and the Battle for America’s Most Exclusive Shoreline

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This Independence Day, Connecticut residents will flock to the shoreline, raising umbrellas and spreading towels along the state's beaches.

Yet, behind this sunny imagery hides a somber history -- a story of coastal ownership and exclusivity.

This hour, University of Virginia professor and Free the Beachesauthor Andrew Kahrl joins us. We reflect on the impact of Connecticut’s private and restricted beaches and learn about a 20th-century crusade to unlock the state’s coast.